FRJ operates under the ethical guidance of the COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics (https://publicationethics.org) and expects all authors to uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and responsible reporting.
Authors must ensure that all submitted work represents an original scholarly contribution.
• Plagiarism: The use of others’ ideas, data, text, or theories without proper attribution is strictly prohibited. This includes direct copying, inappropriate paraphrasing without citation, or presenting others’ results as one’s own. All submissions are screened using plagiarism detection tools, including the Irandoc Plagiarism Detection Mechanism.
• Proper Attribution: Any use of external material must be appropriately cited or quoted. Where required, written permission must be obtained. Information obtained through private communication (e.g., emails, conversations) must not be used without explicit written consent from the source.
• Duplicate or Redundant Publication: Authors must not submit or publish substantially overlapping manuscripts across multiple journals. Simultaneous submission of the same or highly similar work to more than one journal is considered unethical.
• Salami Slicing: Fragmenting a single study into multiple smaller publications without clear justification is discouraged and considered unethical practice.
• Permissible Reuse: Exceptions include preprints, conference abstracts, theses, or lecture materials, provided full disclosure is made at the time of submission and appropriate citation is included to avoid self-plagiarism.
While generative AI tools may assist authors, human responsibility, accountability, and transparency remain essential.
| AI Activity | FRJ Policy |
|---|---|
| Authorship | Not permitted. AI tools cannot be listed as authors. |
| Content Creation (Copywriting) | Not permitted. AI must not be used to generate substantive content such as abstracts, literature reviews, methods, or conclusions. |
| Data Generation | Not permitted. AI cannot be used to fabricate, manipulate, or report research data or results. |
| Language Editing (Copy-editing) | Permitted. AI may be used to improve grammar, clarity, and readability of the author’s original text. |
| Image Creation | Not permitted for evidential images, figures, graphical abstracts, or artistic content. Exception applies only when AI is explicitly part of the research methodology and is fully documented. |
| Disclosure | Mandatory. Any use of generative AI must be declared (tool name, version, and purpose) in a dedicated statement before the reference list. Basic non-generative grammar tools do not require disclosure. |
Authors remain fully responsible for verifying all AI-assisted content, including references, which may be inaccurate or fabricated, and must ensure compliance with data privacy and intellectual property standards.
Research involving human participants, animals, or sensitive data must comply with relevant ethical and legal frameworks.
• Human Participants: Studies must follow institutional and national ethical guidelines. Authors must include a statement confirming informed consent was obtained from participants or their legal representatives (https://www.apaservices.org/practice/business/management/informed-consent; https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/ethics/process-seeking-if-printing.pdf?sfvrsn=3fac5edb_4) and confirm adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki).
• Ethical Approval: Manuscripts must include an ethics statement specifying approval by an appropriate institutional or national review board, including approval number, institution name, and date. Lack of documentation may result in rejection or return of the manuscript.
• Animal Research: Studies involving animals must comply with the 3Rs principles—Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement (https://nc3rs.org.uk/who-we-are/3rs)—and follow relevant reporting guidelines such as ARRIVE (https://arriveguidelines.org). Institutional ethical approval is required.
• Hazard Disclosure: Any use of hazardous chemicals, procedures, or equipment must be clearly identified within the manuscript.
Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial relationships that could influence or bias their research.
This includes interests within the past three years of conducting the study, as well as any earlier relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influential.
• Financial Interests: Grants, employment, consultancy roles, stock ownership, honoraria, patents, or research funding.
• Non-Financial Interests: Professional affiliations, personal relationships, academic competition, or ideological beliefs that may introduce bias.
• Disclosure Principle: Authors should consider whether any undisclosed relationship would reasonably be seen as problematic if revealed after publication.
• Declaration Requirement: Authors must complete and submit the official Declaration of Competing Interests Form (https://zenodo.org/records/17764062/files/Declaration_Competing_Interests_Form.docx?download=1) at submission. A concise disclosure statement must also be included in the manuscript under a designated section.
Authors are responsible for ensuring honesty, accuracy, and transparency in reporting research findings.
• Error Correction: If a significant error is discovered after publication, authors must promptly notify the journal and cooperate in issuing a correction or retraction if necessary.
• Image Integrity: Manipulation of images that alters, obscures, or misrepresents data is strictly prohibited. Acceptable adjustments (e.g., brightness or contrast) must be applied uniformly and must not affect interpretation of results.